Dwight Sanders

Character Analysis

Sanders, like Dagny and Lawrence Hammond, is in the transportation business: airplanes in his case. Sanders' planes, like Hammond's cars, feature more prominently in the story than the man himself. However, he has an interesting scene with Dagny after she first arrives in Atlantis. Here Sanders explains to her the nature of his business and how life works in the valley:

"Why, no. At Sanders' Aircraft."

"Where is it?"

"Where did you think it was? In that building in New Jersey . . .?"

"Where is it, then?"

"Wherever I am." (3.1.1.277-81)

Sanders is emphasizing the power of the mind: that's where his factory is; its physical location doesn't really matter. For Dagny, who is deeply attached to the Taggart Terminal building itself, this is a hard concept to accept.